“Becky, the American Bad Girl, Vol. 4 – A Night of Bowling, Pizza, and Beer – After Settling My Debt to Impo-senpai, I Dove Headfirst into the Hell of Love and English Composition”

This story is a continuation of Episode 1 “Bad Girl Becky, Vol.1,” Episode 2 “The Forbidden ‘Third Goal,’” and Episode 3 “Stairway to Heaven, One Crazy Night, and My Decision.”

Becky and Tsuboi-senpai came back a little after 10 p.m.

We were all gathered in the trailer house living room, killing time while staring blankly at the TV. The strange atmosphere we’d just experienced at Becky’s apartment, and the quiet of the night, still lingered in our chests, and a kind of restless silence hung over the room.

From outside, car headlights slipped through the window, and at the same time we heard Becky’s laughter. It was dry, clear, and just a little drunk.

The door opened.

“Hey guys! We had sooo much fun!”

Becky came barreling into the room still in her boots, shook her hair back, and raised one hand in greeting. She dropped down onto a cushion in the middle of the living room, leaned her head back, and stretched with a big sigh.

“Sei-san! Do you have any Coke?”

“Yeah, we got some.”

Sei-san pulled a can out of the cooler and handed it to her without a word. There was a vague, unreadable smile on his face.

Ken was sitting on the sofa with his knees drawn up, staring at an aeronautical chart he’d spread out to prep for the next day’s training, but his eyes were firmly fixed on Becky.

A little later, Tsuboi-senpai came in.

The front buttons of his shirt were undone, and he gave a small, awkward shrug.

“…Thanks, I’m back.”

Watching him, I couldn’t stop my thoughts from spinning.

Did he do it?

No, but… something about his face felt off.

Once the air in the room had settled down a bit, I quietly sat down next to Tsuboi-senpai and asked in a low voice,

“Senpai… how did it go today?”

He took a sip of beer, then let out a laugh that sounded like his shoulders were slumping.

“We went bowling. After that we grabbed some pizza, and then Becky said she wanted a beer, so I had just one with her. Then we came back.”

“…That’s it?”

“Yeah, that’s it.”

The moment I heard those words, something inside me leapt.

Yessssssssss!!

I hadn’t realized it was possible to be this happy that my senpai didn’t do anything. Even I was a little shocked at myself.

“I–I see! Ahaha, well then, I guess it’s my turn next, huh!”

The words slipped out of my mouth.

He gave a wry smile, took another gulp of beer, and just said,

“Do your best, man.”

From a bit farther away, Ken laughed, “Wow, soooo obvious,” but I no longer cared.

That night, Becky found an old boombox sitting in the corner of the living room. She popped in a cassette tape she’d dug up from somewhere.

It wasn’t “Stairway to Heaven.” It was a more up-tempo rock track. But the moment the sound came out, the whole scene from that night came flooding back into me.

Smoke, lights, guitar, sweat, and that smell.

Becky was stepping lightly on the carpet in front of the sofa, a can of Coke in one hand. She spun around and smiled brightly.

“Hey, isn’t anyone gonna dance?”

But I was in no state to dance.

My mind was completely consumed with my “next move.”

How should I approach Becky?

If I just asked her out normally, I felt like I’d get swallowed up by her easy, playful vibe and that would be the end of it.

I needed… something more memorable.

“Ummmmmmm…”

I stepped out into the hallway and looked up at the sky alone. The California night sky felt strangely wide, and the stars seemed close.

Just then, a memory from grade school came back to me.

Back then, I’d once taken part in a speech contest as the class representative.

I’d nervously read my speech, and in that moment the whole classroom had gone completely silent, with only my voice echoing through the room.

That’s it… words. I’ve got words, don’t I?

The plan was set.

“A love letter.”

I’d write Becky a letter. A proper one.

Not some half-baked pickup English, but sentences that expressed my feelings straight, with just a bit of coolness.

My battle started here.

Night grew deeper.

I sat at a small table in the corner of the dining area, opened a notebook, and picked up a pen.

In front of me was an English–Japanese dictionary, and on my left a slang dictionary. On the first page of the notebook, I carefully wrote:

“Dear Becky,”

But after that, the words just wouldn’t come.

Should I write it in English? Or write it in Japanese and attach a translation?

I racked my brain, going back and forth, and replayed my conversations with Becky in my head.

“Your eyes look like the sky.”

She’d said that once, half joking.

I’d laughed it off back then, embarrassed, but now…

“When I look at you, I forget where I am. Maybe that’s what being in love feels like.”

Yeah, I wanted to weave words that felt like that.

I wrote and erased, wrote and erased, over and over.

By the time the clock passed 3 a.m., I finally had a complete love letter.

Dear Becky,

I had a really good time with you the other night.
（この前の夜、君と過ごした時間は本当に楽しかった）

You have beautiful energy — like music, or maybe like fire.
（君のエネルギーは美しくて、音楽のようで、あるいは炎のようでもあった）

You make me feel alive.
（君といると、生きているって実感するんだ）

I don’t know if I’m your type, but I just wanted you to know.
（僕が君の好みかどうかはわからない。でも、どうしても伝えたかった）

I like you. Maybe more than a little.
（君のことが好きです。たぶん、ちょっとどころじゃなく）

From, Me

My heart was pounding.

Reading it back, the grammar was a little suspicious here and there. But my feelings were packed into it.

I slipped the letter into an envelope, left the sender’s name off, and quietly tucked it into my pocket.

Then I thought,

It’s not time to give it to her yet. But I’m ready now.

That night, I didn’t sleep a wink. I just sat by the window, watching the sky outside slowly turn pale with dawn.

Thinking about Becky.

And thinking, just a little, about my future self.

— Next time: “Operation Letter, Go.”